Time Gate: Reaper
by Uzuki Cheverie
Summary: The pre-story to Time Gate; Uzuki, Yashiro, Shuto, and Mitsuhiro's lives before they became Reapers and met Link in Time Gate. Hope you all enjoy, won't be updating as frequently due to work on Time Gate: Adult Chapters.
1. They Call Him Mitsuhiro

Hey guys!

Well, here we have the 'pre-story' to The Legend of Zelda: Time Gate. Now, I'm just going to be working on this while I work on Adult Chapters, so bear with me if it takes long to update. Also, until Time Gate is over, there may not be a lot of action either (because I don't want to keep you all waiting anxiously for the next chapter because I'm working on Time Gate more than this). This is the story of Uzuki, Yashiro, Shuto, and Mitsuhiro's lives before they died; it even follows their Reaper lives until they meet Link, and then, well, that leads into Time Gate.

So I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Time Gate: Reaper!

Uzuki Cheverie

**Reaper**

**Chapter 1: They Call Him Mitsuhiro**

Mitsuhiro Minamimoto.

There's a strange student at every school, but Mitsuhiro beats every single one of me and my friends – and we're too weird for the human beings at our school to comprehend.

It's not that he's ugly. Quite far from it in fact. He's the average twelfth-grader, a little taller than most, with a thin figure and pale skin that looks even paler when contrasted with black, especially with his long black hair. Even his eyes appear to be a sharp, hateful black.

It's not that he's untalented. So far he can play guitar at a very advanced level, can read, write and speak in Hyrulean, Zorean and Occaean, solve long mathematical problems in his head, and of course, whoo the ladies with his cool-guy charm.

It's _disgusting._

Not his talents or anything, I have nothing against that. It's the fact that he has so many girls swarming behind him like a pack of hungry wolves and actually allows them to waste their time doing so. It's like he's treating them like a bunch of unused puppets.

When I think about it, not as disgusting as I thought. Kind of amusing when it comes down to it.

But the guy is popular, no doubt about that. But something tells me he doesn't enjoy all the extra attention. He spends his time either hidden behind the door of his locker, or sitting behind the lounge chair in the lobby where nobody sees.

But enough about Mitsuhiro, he's not important right now. You're probably wondering who _I_ am.

My name is Uzuki Kasahara. And I am at the _bottom_ of the foodchain, far far away from Mitsuhiro. I'm the average eleventh-grader, at a sometimes-questionable height, with long, dark, curly brown hair and a tan skin color and dark brown eyes. I'm a bit on the thin side, but I still have a bit of chubbyness left to grow off.

As for _my _talents, I don`t have as many as Mitsuhiro. I love to draw and have gotten quite good at it over the years. I can play piano, flute and ocarina, and I`m pretty good at handling knives in battle. But I`ve never even been in a real fight before either, so that`s an exaggerated fact.

So that`s basically it. I don`t measure up to any of the students at our school, especially the high-and-mighty Mitsuhiro Minamimoto. But I do an okay job of knowing and staying in my place. I don`t have to be alone either; I have an entourage of fellow freaks, nerds, and weirdos to keep me company. I`d introduce you to each one of them individually, but I don`t want to swarm you with the names. They are all my lifelong friends, and I wouldn`t trade them for anything.

Ugh, sappy talk.

Back to my day.

Anyways, because of Mitsuhiro`s `hiding` spots, I end up running into him one way or another each and every day. When we do see each other, the first thing we do is stare, our eyes locked in a sort of death-gaze, which only lasts a split second, and then we continue our day like nothing happened.

So, when I enter the door of our school, the first person I lock eyes with is Mitsuhiro, who`s sitting behind the big comfy chair of the lounging area. Our eyes lock, his black eyes staring back into my own brown eyes, and then when the second is over, we`ve broken our gaze and I`m walking away from him. I feel like I heard him snicker at me though. His problem. If he thinks I`m funny, good for him, he`s not the only one.

I shake off the cold feeling he had drilled into my head and walk through the double doors that lead to the large cafeteria, where everyone in the school is arranged into their own social groups and hanging out until the first bell rings. Everyone has their own table to sit at; I have my own table too. It`s way at the back of the cafeteria, across from the doors, and it`s just two tables. But even though we`re at the back and the least paid-attention to, we are probably the _loudest_.If everyone left the cafeteria except us, we`d be enough to make it sound like the cafeteria was filled up to the brim. It`s not something we`re exceptionally proud of; but it _has_ gotten us quite the reputation. You only have to be a new student for a day to learn about us, the loudest group in the high school.

When I step into the cafeteria, Yashiro instantly spots me and waves. I wave back as I start to run towards the table. Once I'm at the table, I sit down between Yashiro and Saichi, setting my shoulder bag underneath the seat of the table.

"Hey Uzuki, what's up?" Yashiro asks me.

"Oh, the same as usual," I sigh. "I'm tired and I don't want to put up with school."

"Cheer up, you," Saichi snickers as he pats my head. "You should be happy, it's a beautiful day out and you're doing good in school."

"I'm tired. . ." I groan as I lay my head down on the table. There are a few moments of silence, until I feel someone poke my head. I look up to see Mikumi, who's just arrived at the table.

"Is you dead?" he asks in a childish manner. He has a way of switching words to make it into a joke.

"No, I'm fine," I snicker under my breath. "Like I said before, I'm tired."

"Better wake up soon, they're giving out the teams for the training classes today," Yashiro tells me. "Unfortunately, you can't choose which team you're in. I'm happy with anyone. . . as long as I don't get stuck with any weirdos like Shuto or Takuma."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Takuma growls at her.

"Which is why I said it," Yashiro laughs.

"I don't really care who I'm with either," I add. "It's just training, it'll be done and over with within a few short weeks. I'm just worried about totally making a complete idiot out of myself. I'm not a hand-to-hand fighter, I'm a sadist that can cause a person's mental sanity to crumble into nothing and then go completely insane."

"Well, I _am_ a hand-to-hand fighter!" Yashiro declares. "I can't wait to get out on the field and punch a few things!" She holds up both her fists, a wide grin growing on her face.

"You'll both do fine," Saichi sighs. "I actually have _weapons_ though. It's going to be fun."

"What, you think I don't have weapons?" I challenge. "Don't get me angry when I'm carrying a few knives; I guarantee you won't see the next morning with all your arms and legs intact."

Saichi stares at her for a second, then looks away.

"What about you, Mikumi?" I ask. "How do you feel about this?"

"I can't wait to see how _other_ people fight!" he laughs. "It's going to be like one big mess of people trying to fight and hold a sword mixed with a whole lot of _fail!_"

The table bursts into laughter at that. Mikumi is the best for making jokes.

I guess I better get to describe these guys, shouldn't I?

First, I'll start with Yashiro Takahashi. One of my table buddies, and a childhood friend, she's quite the violent kind of girl. She's tall, with short black hair and blue-green eyes, and she's always wearing these pair of goggles on her head. Because she was always hanging out with her two older brothers while growing up – Higashizawa and Makoto – she tends to act violent in regular situations, but she's really fun to hang out with too.

Now here comes Saichi Durami. I've been friends with him even _longer _than Yashiro, probably since the toddler days. He's a big guy, with brown hair that's streaked with hints of blonde, and he's got dark eyes that change when he gets into a fight (don't ask me how that happens, I really have no clue). He's always wearing this fur jacket around, and it makes everyone super jealous during the winter when we're all freezing our asses off and he's nice and toasty inside his jacket.

Next, there's Mikumi Jishiru. I've only been friends with him since the eighth grade, so I've only known him for three years, but so far, he's a pretty awesome dude. He's like Saichi, pretty big, but much taller, with dark eyes, and he's got long black hair that's always paired up with a jazz hat. Now, this particular jazz hat has these red eyes sewn onto both sides of the hat, almost like a sort of mask, and I swear on the Goddesses' graves, I have _seen_ those eyes blink more than once on occasion. I am not joking you, it is true. Nobody else believes me, but I'm not going to admit that I'm going crazy either, because I've _seen_ them blink.

Finally, there's Takuma Eiji. He's not like Mikumi or Saichi; he's much skinner, but he's almost the same height as Mikumi. He's really tan, with dark black hair and brown eyes like the rest of us. There's not much else to say about him, because he's a pretty ordinary guy, but he's got some awesome jokes. He's also got his moments when he totally humiliates himself and we all crap ourselves laughing.

So those are the 'basic' friends. There are more to come though. But back to our conversation for now.

Because the eleventh grade just started for me, I still have to get used to my new classes. I'm in Art, Math, English, and Strategics & Defense. In fact, _everyone_ in tenth through twelfth grade is in Strategics & Defense this year. The students are divided in half, so one half of the school is in the class for one semester, and then it switches and the other half is in the class for the last semester. It gives us all an even and fair amount of time to totally humiliate ourselves. Coincidentally, me, Saichi, Mikumi, Yashiro, Takuma and all the rest of my friends are together in one class. Like Mikumi said, it's going to be a whole lot of fail.

Before we can get into a deeper conversation about the Strategics class, the high school bell rings, which means we have to head off to our classes. Because Saichi, Mikumi and Takuma are in twelfth grade, they're never in the same class as Yashiro and I, who are in eleventh grade.

We get up from the table and part ways, Yashiro and I heading upstairs to the second floor behind Saichi and Mikumi. We have to take the grand journey all the way up to the third floor of the school; unfortunately, the art room is basically the only room on the third floor. It's sad, and annoying to have to walk all the way up there. Saichi and Mikumi are going to their Math classroom, so we don't have to say goodbye to them just yet.

Five seconds later, we do.

"See you at break, Saichi, Mikumi," I mutter, giving both of them high-fives.

"See you two later," Yashiro says, giving them knuckle-touches. The two boys head inside the classroom, leaving me and Yashiro behind to walk all the way up the stairs to the third floor. We head down the hallway, towards the door that leads to the staircase.

"Hey Uzuki, check it out," Yashiro says, pulling on my arm and pointing to the guy hiding behind the locker door.

"Oh great, it's Mitsuhiro," I sigh. "Come on, let's just walk by him."

Yashiro and I pay no mind to him as we walk by. I feel a strange presence as I walk by him though; it's a cold, evil sort of presence.

I forgot to mention that earlier.

I'm an aura reader. I can read the emotional level of a human being just by looking at them. It's an ability that I learned how to utilize all on my own. Basically, I can see a person's energy by looking at them. It surrounds their body like a sphere, and even the sphere takes on its own shape of what the person's personality is. It just changes colors with their emotions; and sometimes it changes shapes with the mood as well, if the emotion is strong enough.

So when I walk by Mitsuhiro, I don't like the feeling of the aura very much. I can't see it right now, but I can feel the emotions coming off of it, like a strong scent. And it's not a very good one, I can tell you that. It's cold and evil, and uncaring. I don't like the empty feeling it leaves me with.

I'm relieved when we finally make it to the staircase and close the door behind us so I don't have to feel that aura any longer. But a small trace of the cold evil aura still lingers in my head. I have to shake it off.

When we make it up the stairs, we walk down the shorter hallway and then enter the classroom, the rest of the students already having taken their seats. The long trip up here usually leaves Yashiro and I as the last ones to arrive.

We take our seats at the front table with one other student from our class. The teacher, already sitting at her desk, stands up and starts to hand out sheets of paper and pencils for us to draw on.

"Now class, today we will be working on perspective," she begins. She's a really artistic type of person, but she has a tendency to talk in a really wispy, dramatic sort of way. "Perspective can be drawn in one of three ways: one-point, two-point, and three-point. We will be starting at one-point."

_Yay, perspective! _I think happily. I've been waiting forever for us to start working on perspective. It's one of my favourite things to draw.

"Here, we have an example of a one-point perspective drawing that Len from twelfth grade was kind enough to draw for us," the teacher says as she lifts up a very nicely drawn one-point perspective drawing. It shows a person standing on the street, and then the street slowly goes down and meets at one point, and there's another person, a very small person, standing at the end. Leave it to Len to draw something melodramatic and sensible like that.

"Now, I'm going to show you how to do one-point perspective," the teacher continues.

_Yay, one-point perspective. . ._ I think, getting more bored by the second_. I so totally didn't do that four years ago. I feel like I'm getting held back in art class. _

During the class, I end up doing a much more advanced drawing than what everyone else is doing, but I still follow along with the lesson so that the teacher doesn't get mad. That's the last thing I want to happen.

When the art class is done, Yashiro and I stand up from our chairs and leave our table, grabbing our schoolbags as we head back downstairs.

When we make it downstairs, I'm happy to see that Mitsuhiro is not at his locker yet. But I don't know if he was already here earlier or if he's coming, so I make sure to walk down the hallway a little quicker to avoid any encounters.

As we walk through the hallway, we pass by Saichi and Mikumi, who are rooting through their lockers for their books for next class.

"Hey guys," Yashiro greets them. "What class do you have next?"

"Uh, I think you mean what class do 'we' have next," Saichi laughs. "It's our first Strategics and Defense class, remember?"

Yashiro groans. "I totally forgot. . . that's not good. . ."

I sigh. "I tried to forgot, but thank you Saichi for reminding me." I make a fist and pretend to punch him in the stomach. He smiles and pats my head.

"Hey."

I don't really recognize the voice, so I turn around to see who it is.

It's Mitsuhiro.

"Huh? Mitsuhiro Minamimoto, right?" I ask. Of course, it's a stupid question.

"Yes."

"What do you want?" Yashiro, Saichi and Mikumi are staring contently at him, although they don't seem very happy. I can tell by their auras.

"We have S&D next. Strategics and Defense."

"I know what S&D stands for."

"Well, we have it next."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that. Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

". . . Yes."

"Why did you bother? I already knew."

". . . Just keep an eye out for something for me. I don't want any . . . unexpected events to happen and catch you off guard."

_What the hell?_ I think, confused by his words. I decide to end the conversation with something brief. It's hard to think of something though because of his one-word responses.

"Look, I have to go get ready. If that's all you had to say, then I have to go." I give a nod to Saichi and Mikumi, gesturing a goodbye; thanks to my little ending, now I really have to go for real. Yashiro follows me as I walk off down the hallway, leaving behind Mitsuhiro, Saichi and Mikumi by their lockers.

"You really can't stand that guy!" Yashiro laughs when we're walking down the stairs to the first floor.

"It's not like I can't stand him . . . he just . . ."

"Yes . . .?"

"I don't know the word for it! But he just gets to me."

"Ohhh . . ."

"W-What?" I stammer.

"Oh, nothing," she giggles.

Aura-reading time. I stare at Yashiro for a few seconds, and she gives me a strange look. She can tell that I'm reading her. When I realize what she's thinking, I glare at her.

"Yashiro-chan, how could you?" I yell.

Yashiro bursts into laughter. "I-I'm sorry, but it's so funny!"

"You'd better shut up! It's not like that! I hate him!"

"Uh-huh, sure you do!"

I shake my head at Yashiro, and then I leave her behind, heading towards my locker at the very end of the hallway. I hate this spot, where my locker is. I've been stuck in this general area since the ninth grade, and it annoys the crap out of me because of the other people that hang around here.

I have one word to describe my ninth grade class from two years ago.

Retarded.

My class was the dumbest, most disrespectful class in the entire existence of human kind. And of course, because they were in my grade, I ended up getting stuck with them. Even some of the students who should be in _jail_ are still allowed to come to school. They're big suck-ups to the teachers, so the teachers become blinded by their kindness and don't do a single thing about them.

Enough of my rambling. I was talking about my locker, right? Yeah, my locker. So because I'm still in my locker from the ninth grade area, I'm still stuck in the same spot as a few other ninth graders, some of which are the ninth graders that I used to and still despise with all my heart.

I grab the lock on my locker as quickly as possible, fumbling with the combination so I can get out of there as quickly as possible before the annoying once-ninth-graders-now-eleventh-graders show up. I don't need to be insulted today, and I don't need to be threatened either. I don't like having to get mad, not one bit.

I end up messing up my combination from all my fumbling the first time, but I manage to get it the second time. I pull open my locker and grab the weapons that I had been given by my teacher at the beginning of the year. At least if the students threaten me I have weapons. But they're better at fighting than I am; I just know it. . .

When I pull out the sword that's held inside its own sheath, I slam my locker shut and close my lock as fast as lightning, my heart racing from my fear and nervousness of getting found. I look around as I close the lock, and when I'm done, I take off down the hallway, leaving behind that terrible place. I hate going to my locker. It's the worst time of the day for me. I try to avoid having to create situations in which I must go to my locker to get things. I carry all my books in my bag. I always keep a million pencils on me so I don't have to get any from my locker.

But I always get drawn back there for something. I always miscalculate and make a mistake.

I start to hear people whispering as I pass by them, some of them laughing.

I hate hearing that.

Because I know that half of them are making fun of me.

But I just ignore it. There's nothing I can do about it right now; when I get the skills, I'll take care of them personally, and then they'll regret making fun of Uzuki Kasahara.

I meet up with Yashiro in the lobby, who's having a conversation with Len.

Len is another one of my friends, who just happens to be in my Strategics and Defense class this half of the year. In fact, I think _all_ my friends are in my S&D class during this half. It's odd, but it makes the class fun and easier to endure.

Anyways, Len is a girl whom I befriended at the beginning of ninth grade. It's actually my mom who had introduced me to her. My mom is, believe it or not, a staff member of the school. And because of that, she knows every single student and which ones I'd get along with. So she started to tell me about Len, and said she was going to introduce me to her sometime. My mother finally introduced me to Len at one of the town festivals. Len was hanging out with her sister, Haku, at the time, along with Sheena and Torii. They're all best friends and hang out together, but the thing is, Haku and Len aren't in school with Sheena and Torii, because they're both home-schooled. So we only get to hang out weekends when we can make the trip out to Kakariko; that's where Torii and Sheena live.

"I'm so excited!" Len cheers. "I mean, I'm nervous and everything, but I'm excited to see who I'm paired up with!"

"I'm probably going to be paired with Uzuki," Yashiro laughs. "They always stick us together because they know we get along."

"I hope I'm paired up with either Luma or Haku," Len answers. "I wish Sheena and Torii went to our school; then I'd have a chance of pairing up with them."

"You may still end up with them," I suggest. They give me a confused look. "W-Well, because both of them are practically home-schooled, they need someone to teach them how to fight; so they may end up coming over here to be taught by our school."

Len jumps happily, letting out a cheer. "That would be so cool!"

"Well, we won't know until class starts, so don't get too excited," I laugh.

"Sorry, I'm hyper today. . ."

Saichi, Mikumi, Takuma, Luma, and Victoria all walk by.

_Wow, even Victoria is with them,_ I think. She's a real townie, but she only likes to hang out with me because she actually _knows_ me. I remember back to the day when Victoria met Saichi and the gang; not a fond memory of mine. Let me just say, for the record, she likes to speak her mind. A little _too_ much.

Saichi stops to greet us. "Hey, we're all heading off to class together," he tells us. "Want to come with us? We feel less nervous if we're all walking together." He laughs.

"Um, sure thing," I snicker. I grab Len's wrist and pull her along with us, Yashiro and Haku following close behind in the huge group of friends we have. Even my sister, Chiyo, is with us. It's her first year at the Academy, so she tends to follow us everywhere so she doesn't get lost; or attacked by bullies. Of course, Chiyo isn't the kind of person to get ransacked by verbal insults. She's like her own lamp of popularity; people swarm to her like moths to a flame. I think it's because she's a lot more approachable than I am. She's always smiling, and she can be really funny. I smile a lot too, but it's my sometimes-depressing personality and weird hobbies that turns everyone away. My friends, the group that sits with me at the cafeteria table every day, are the only friends I have. They understand me. Because, besides the depression, they're all like me.

The place where the S&D class takes place is in the 'backyard' of the Academy. It's basically a gigantic field - and when I say gigantic, I literally mean about the same size as Hyrule Castle Town itself - that's split into a bunch of other fields, each one with a different 'theme'. For example, one field would be purely consisted of a grassy meadow, another would have several lakes spread out, another would be like the landscape of Death Mountain; that sort of stuff. At least, that's what I've been told. Makoto and Higashizawa, who took the class once together before they graduated, told Yashiro and I about the fields they had and what they had to go through. There are two classes for S&D: General and Advanced. Everyone in high school takes the General class, but the Advanced class is optional; it's because they only have S&D class every two years, because it's such a complex class. Because I'm in eleventh grade and this is my General class - my first year in S&D - I'm only going to be taking it once. Had I been in tenth grade for my first S&D class, I would have had the option in twelfth grade to take it again, as the Advanced class. It's a confusing setup, but I heard from Higashizawa that the classes are actually quite fun. Makoto and Higashizawa, before I forget to mention, are Yashiro's older brothers; Makoto is her step-brother, to be more exact. But they're siblings either way. My brothers, Taishou and Mikoshi, took the class as well, years before when they graduated. Taishou took the class once, and Mikoshi took it twice; Taishou was offered to take it twice, but he refused because he wanted to have an extra class to study history (the only reason they were both offered was because there's a two year difference between them).

So that's S&D in a very confusing nutshell. My brothers took it, and Yashiro's brothers took it, so at least we each have two mentors to give us advice on how to survive it. And we have the entire group from our table in the cafeteria to help us survive as well.

I'm just not looking forward to having to deal with Mitsuhiro Minamimoto.

* * *

So far, the only person I hate in Strategics & Defense is our friggin' teacher.

I've only had him for five minutes, and he's already a complete jackass.

How do I know?

Somebody is already _bleeding_.

Okay, so let me recap what happened in the past five minutes for you.

First, our teacher came outside to join us. We're in the meadow area of the Strategics & Defense field right now, just to let you know. Our teacher is this real buff guy, with short spiky hair that reminds me of my brother Taishou, and a daring smirk that's always on his face. He's got this wheat strand clenched between his teeth, and tan skin that looks like it's been through a few tough battles. Not to mention the gigantic scar that's right on his face, across the bridge of his nose. Oh, and I forgot to mention; his name is Bruno Ruin.

Ruin.

As in, he's going to _ruin _our faces by the end of this class.

Second, he asked a simple little question:

"Who here doesn't want to be in this class today?"

Almost everyone raised their hand; I was one of teh few that didn't. I knew it was a trick question; I wasn't that stupid to fall for it.

So, the teacher picked on one of the students; a short, awkward, nerdy teenager named Russell. Then he asked Russell why he didn't want to be in this class.

"Well, I could be doing so much better things," Russell replied in his I-know-everything voice.

"Like?" Ruin asked.

"Like. . . researching our environment's current stability so we can learn how to sustain a better climate and better living conditions for other-"

Bruno didn't even let him _finish_. Which I'm thankful for; his words were making my eyes glaze over. Before poor Russell could finish his scientific speech, Bruno nailed him right in the _face_. And don't get me wrong, Bruno is a pretty big guy, and he's really fit too; he's like a buff version of my brother Taishou, only even more aggressive and head-strong.

Poor, poor Russell. You can bet that he didn't say another word after that; nobody else did. Everyone who had raised their hands lowered them immediately, no more questions asked.

So now we have the teacher from hell.

At least I know now that all the positive energy I built up is going to be worth _nothing at all_.

"Alright, now what to do with all you weaklings. . ." Bruno begins as he starts to crack his over-sized knuckles. Despite the fact that he just gave Russell the world's greatest nose-bleed, his knuckles don't have a single trace of blood on them.

"You know, we're not _all _weaklings. . . I bet I'm stronger than you." a voice says. A very familiar voice.

Whoever it was, they're dead. I mean, they just challenged Bruno Ruin to a fight.

"Who just challenged me?" Bruno asks, a smile growing on his face. He must be loooking forward to beating the living crap out of whoever it was that talked back to him.

"I did." Someone in the long line of students raises their hand.

I look down to see who it is that's raising their hand.

It's Mitsuhiro.

"Step forward, kid," Bruno orders. Mitsuhiro doesn't disobey, doesn't even say a word as he walks forward, releasing himself from the line of students that are watching him with shock and admiration. Mikumi is trying to stifle a laugh; then I see him exchange a yellow rupee with Saichi behind their backs. Are they betting on the fight?

"What's your name, kid?" Bruno asks him, folding his arms. I notice a snake tattoo on his shoulder that wraps in a circle.

"Mitsuhiro Minamimoto," he replies, his words practically floating from his mouth like he had rehearsed everything the previous night. The comparison between Mitsuhiro and Bruno comes to a point of weirdness that's just plain silly; Bruno is tall and buff, Mitsuhiro is taller and barely has a visible muscle on him; Bruno is head-strong and yells a lot, Mitsuhiro is quiet and may not even speak if talked to; Bruno looks like he's been in hundreds of fights, maybe even in the Great War, and Mitsuhiro doesn't even look like he's been in one single fight in his life.

"That's quite a mouthful of a name," Bruno chuckles. "You know, you've got quite a scary look to yourself; are you an albino, or is that look just a fashion statement?"

I actually have to agree with Bruno on this one; Mitsuhiro is a pretty pale person, especially with his black hair contrasting the color of his skin, not to mention his dark eyes that resemble black holes. He probably is an albino, but he's still got a bit of normal human color to himself, if you look really closely.

"Not a fashion statement," Mitsuhiro mumbles; it almost sounds like a low, held-back chuckle. "I'm just. . . different."

Bruno lets out a loud laugh, the wheat strand that was in his mouth falling to the ground next to his sandaled feet.

"Haha, I like you already, kid!" he laughs. "Alright, so you wanna battle, huh? You think you're stronger than me?"

". . . Yes," Mitsuhiro mutters.

Saichi, Mikumi, Yashiro, Takuma, and I chuckle under our breath. Almost everyone laughs in fact. I gotta admit, it was pretty funny. Mitsuhiro looks back at us, and smirks a little. Is he glad we laughed?

"Alright, wise guy, let's get this battle on!" Bruno declares, bashing his fists together. He charges at Mitsuhiro, a fire growing in his brown eyes, his fists tightening as he brings one up to swing at Mitsuhiro, who's just standing there casually with his hands in his pockets. But before his punch can make a hit, Mitsuhiro ducks, bringing one of his hands out from his pockets, and driving his fist straight into Bruno's stomach, twisting it like a drill as he does it. Bruno seems caught off-guard at first, but he regains himself before falling to the ground, sliding backwards through the dirt and still managing to stay on his feet. By now, everyone is watching intently, to see who will win.

"Wow, you sure got a lot of fighting power in ya!" Bruno laughs, his voice a little hoarse from getting struck; I don't know how hard Mitsuhiro punched him, but it must have been hard enough, because almost all the air's been knocked out of the poor guy. Bruno takes another swing, but this time, out of nowhere, Mitsuhiro falls onto his back like a possum playing dead. Before Bruno can figure out what he's doing, he shoots his leg straight up and nails Bruno right in the face with his foot, knocking the surprised teacher to the dirt ground.

By now, the entire line of students are silent. And then, all at once like a fire blowing up from dead ashes, they all start cheering and clapping. Even I can't help but clap a little for Mitsuhiro's amazing performance. I look over at Saichi, who's handing two yellow rupees to Mikumi, which includes the one that Mikumi had given to Saichi earlier; I guess Saichi bet on Bruno to win.

When Bruno gets back up, we all see that his nose is bleeding; there's also a spot on his face that looks like it's going to bruise later. He wipes his face, the blood coming off onto his gloved hand, and then he bends down to pick up the wheat strand that's still sitting in the same place from when it fell. He puts it back between his teeth, and smiles at Mitsuhiro.

"Wow, I haven't seen such talent in any of my first year students in years," Bruno sighs. "I'm glad to have met you, kid. Hey, how about I make you a little deal? Everyone in the class is required to have a partner. You're not supposed to be able to choose, but I figure it won't hurt just this once; no one will be able to tell, you know? So go ahead and pick someone, anyone you think you'll get along with and fight well with."

Mitsuhiro turns to the line of students standing in front of him. He's got plenty of people to choose from; but then again, Mitsuhiro doesn't get along with very many people either. I bet that at least half the class is praying that he doesn't choose them. And one of them just so happens to be me.

"Hmm. . ." Mitsuhiro mutters under his breath, eyeing each student like he's picking a fish from the market. When he looks at me, I glare at him with hatred in my eyes; I don't want him to like me, I want him to hate me so that he doesn't pick me.

"Alright, I've decided," he finally says.

And then he says the name that I had been dreading to hear.

"I pick Uzuki-chan."


	2. Books and Conversations

Hey guys,

This chapter may be a bit more boring, but I'm still trying to come up with a good twist to the story that will make it a little more exciting. I'm just going to submit Reaper and Time Gate at even times (ex. I submit a chapter of Reaper, then a chapter of Time Gate, then a chapter of Reaper, etc.). Hope you like this chapter, you can expect Chapter 10 of the Adult Chapters to be up soon, and then I'll submit chapter 3 of Reaper. Enjoy, R&R.

Uzuki Cheverie

**Time Gate: Reaper**

**Chapter 2: Books and Conversations**

I never wanted anything to do with Mitsuhiro Minamimoto.

He's a stuck-up jerk who thinks he's so much better than everyone else. He thinks he's too cool for anyone, so he doesn't talk to people. And I can tell that he doesn't really like me either.

That's what his aura tells me at least.

So what kind of game is he playing here?

Why would he choose me for a partner? Does he actually think I'd be a good partner for him, or does he know that I hate him and he's just being smug?

I wish he'd wipe that teasing grin off his face. It's clear that he's trying to play around with my head; I guess I'll just have to play back with some mind tricks of my own.

I look over at Yashiro, who's already smiling at me. She winks at me, and gives me a thumbs-up. Saichi has a worried look on his face; he's always known that I hate Mitsuhiro, so he's probably worried abotu how I'm going to react to being his partner. Mikumi is trying to hold back his laughter - he thinks it's ironic that I ended up with a person that I hate - but I can still tell that he feels sorry for me.

"Alright, which one of you is Uzuki?" Bruno asks.

_Well, there's no turning back now,_ I think, bracing myself for the torture ahead. I sigh and step forward, losing the protection that I had from my friends. I'm all alone now.

_Quit talking to yourself like you're dying! _my mind yells at me. _You're just going to have to put up with him! It's not the worst thing in the world!_

I sigh again, and I come to a stop in front of Mitsuhiro, who's lost his grin, but still seems to have a teasing appearance in his lifeless, black eyes.

"Sweet, we've got our first set of partners already!" Bruno exclaims in relief. "Saves us a load of time! Let's get the rest of the partners together!"

So Bruno goes ahead and partners up the rest of the students; and they're all so much luckier than I am, some more than others.

Saichi and Mikumi.

Yashiro and Luma.

Takuma and Victoria.

Len and Sheena.

Torii and Haku.

Shuto and Saru.

Something about the partnering system makes me feel like it's rigged. There are about eighty people in thsi class, so how the hell did everyone else get paired up with people they get along well with? Even nerdy littel Russell seems to appreciate his partner, Peter! Peter is a lot like Bruno when it comes down to it; tan, buff, but with blond hair that's always tied into a ponytail, a headstrong attitude, and enough strength to break poor little Russell into two like a toothpick.

I think I'm the only one who hates my partner.

To start the class, Bruno thinks it's a good idea for us to have a ten-minute conversational warm-up with our partners; so I have to _talk_to Mitsuhiro for ten whole minutes. About what?

"Pleased to meet you, Uzuki-chan," Mitsuhiro says to me in his usual bored tone.

"Oh please, you already know me," I grumble, crossing my arms. "So don't act all clueless."

"If I already knew you, then we wouldn't be having this conversation." He smirks a little bit, his eyebrow raising. "Don't you agree?"

He has a point. But I can't tell him that. There is no way I'm going to give him the satisfaction.

"So, what shall we talk about?" Mitsuhiro asks. "Livelihood? Hobbies? Strengths and weaknesses? You name it."

"Stop acting like that," I hiss.

He raises his eyebrow again. "Like what, may I ask?"

"All polite and everything; you're teasing me, and it's annoying the crap out of me!"

"How are you so sure that I'm teasing you?"

And here it comes.

Where I have to explain to him that I have the strange power to read auras, and if lucky, sometimes minds.

"I'm an aura-reader," I mutter, looking away from his gaze and down to the ground. Why do I feel so ashamed all of a sudden? Maybe it's because now I feel like some sort of alien being; because even though there are other aura-readers out there, I don't know any others personally other than myself.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot about that," he says as if it's no big surprise to him.

"You knew?" I ask, immediately perking up again to glare at him.

"Of course. I can see it in your eyes; the way your eyes change when you read auras."

I scowl at him. "So you admit you've been stalking me?"

He laughs a little. "Who said anything about stalking people? Where the hell did that come from? I'm just saying that I've noticed you around the school, and I noticed how your eyes change; an aura-reader who just couldn't keep her little secret away from me. Of course, now that I'm your partner, you would have been forced to tell me anyways, whether or not you wanted to. Aura-reading can be a very good skill for battles."

"So you've been watching me then? That still doesn't make me feel any better."

"Well, at least I noticed you, right?"

I look away again, embarrassed by his comment.

"Now, as for the reason I'm teasing you," Mitsuhiro continues, "I felt the need to test your aura-reading skills, to see if they were real or not. And sure enough, you passed the test just fine. Now I can stop being an overly-cheerful maniac and get back to being who I really am."

"Well, at least I know you won't always be acting this way," I snicker. "It would soon annoy the crap out of me."

Mitsuhiro doesn't crack a smile. "Whatever works for you. . ." He kicks the heel of his foot against the other, looking down to the ground. His aura has suddenly shrunk down to nothing; is he shy, or is he ignoring me?

"Hey, what up with the sudden personality change?" I ask.

He looks up at me, and smiles a little. "That's amazing. You really can read auras. Yep, that's what my aura looks like all the time; whatever it is that you're seeing at least. Small, not much for human beings, shy around people that I find interesting. . ."

I'm embarrassed a bit again, but a little pissed off that he said something so openly without realizing it.

"You find me interesting? A regular human being? Don't make me laugh."

"A regular human being with a very interesting personality," Mitsuhiro says back. "I'd say an interesting aura, but I can't read auras, now can I?"

I give him a dirty look, knowing that he's now teasing me about my ability to read auras.

"There are three minutes left," he says.

_Three minutes? _I think. _How does he know for sure? Has he actually been counting down the seconds? If there's actually three minutes left, I'll be damned. . . _I realize that I'm staring at him, and I look away.

"Before the class starts, I need to ask you something," Mitsuhiro says. He's staring at me with some sort of deep emotion in his black eyes. It must be important.

"What is it?" I ask, still trying to look away; but I'm mesmerized, almost hypnotized, by his black eyes.

"Even if you hate a person, can you still bring yourself to trust them?"

I blink. Was he referring to himself, and how I hated him?

"I only trust people when I like them. I don't think I could ever trust a person I didn't like," I mutter.

He stares at me for a moment, and then smirks. "Hmm, I see. Then I guess we'd better get to like each other, otherwise this class isn't going to be very fun."

"I think I can live," I growl. A whistle goes off, marking the end of our ten minute conversation. Bruno calls us back into line. He's still nibbling on that strand of grain.

Remember how I said earlier that I may be the only one that hates my partner? Well, Shuto doesn't look like he's having a whole lot of fun either. He got paired up with Saru, a student who just came to this school this year. He's actually a really cool dude, or so I've heard. He's tall, with red hair that's tied back into a ponytail that spreads out from all sides. There are strange markings on his face; four little black squares underneath each eye. His eyes are thin and cruel-looking, but he's always got this sarcastic smile on his face.

"Can we please do something different, Mr. Ruin?" Russell asks nervously as he raises his hand. I can tell he's scared of talking out of line again. Bruno's gaze snaps to him, and Russell flinches in fear. Then a smile grows on his face, and Russell calms himself, his shoulders slumping forward in relief.

"Don't worry, kid, we're about to move onto something totally different!" Bruno says in excitement. "Now that you've had conversations with your partners, it's time we all had our own group chat!"

"T-That's not totally different! That's the exact same thing!" Russell exclaims.

"You got something to say about it, kid?" Bruno snaps, his smile changing to a frown and his eyebrows lowering in anger.

Russell flinches. "N-No, never mind! Just a suggestion!"

"That's what I thought you said," Bruno mutters. "The reason for this is that we have to connect not only as partners, but as an entire squad as well. Sometimes we'll be doing exercises with our partners, and sometimes in divided groups. We need to get to know each other, learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as our fighting styles. If we can connect as a group, we'll be unstoppable."

"What are you, sending us out to war or something?" Saichi asks.

Bruno turns to Saichi with a serious look. "Remember the Great War? Oh yeah, _you were just a kid_. Your parents probably fought in the Great War, kid. Be grateful that you're even alive right now. We lost too many people in that war, and we don't intend on starting another one. But if there ever happens to be another war, then at least you'll be alive and ready, not pissing yourself in the middle of the battleground."

Mikumi laughs, and Saichi snickers under his breath.

"Anyone who wishes to step forward and be the first, please do so now," Bruno asks. "It doesn't really matter who goes first, considering you have no choice but to talk in the long run anyways." He laughs, but nobody laughs with him.

The first person to raise their hand is the same person who stepped up to Bruno before. Mitsuhiro.

"Considering I was the first student to officially kick your ass, I may as well be the first to introduce myself as well," Mitsuhiro says.

_Why is he acting like this? _I think_. So openly; it's like this is the first time he's revealing himself to the entire world as Mitsuhiro. People are paying attention to him, and he doesn't care. He's usually too busy trying to make people not pay attention to him._

"Introduce yourself, kid," Bruno orders. "Tell them a bit about yourself."

Mitsuhiro turns to the line of students, and waves only once.

"My name is Mitsuhiro Minamimoto. I'm a graduate student this year, and am partnered with Uzuki Kasahara for Strategics and Defense class. My main weapon to use are katanas, and my only weakness is my time and a certain person."

I immediately turn red, and my face starts to burn. I can tell he's talking about me. He's looking straight at me, but not so straight as to draw attention to me from the other students.

"Oh, and my nickname is "Fairy Tree Man"."

Saichi coughs, like he's choking on his own saliva.

"Haha, I'm joking, Saichi-kun," Mitsuhiro laughs. "Sorry if I got you a little excited there. You know, I just love wearing suits and stuff, and I'm practically an albino, so I thought I'd scare you a little."

Saichi laughs back, but his laugh his nervous.

"That's all," Mitsuhiro finishes.

"Alright, next is-"

"Oh, do you mind if you pick Uzuki? I would like to see what she has to say," Mitsuhiro interrupts. Bruno seems a little surprised at first, but then looks at me.

"You heard him, Kasahara. Get up here," Bruno orders, gesturing me with his thumb. I walk forward, and Mitsuhiro starts to walk back. When we pass by, his arm just barely touches mine, and I realize something. It's not the kind of electric feeling you get from someone you like. His skin is as cold as its color. And it's not just the cold, but I start to feel weird too. Everything just seems to slow down for a moment, like I'm walking through quicksand, only it's all around me. My vision goes a little wonky too; for a split millisecond, everything around me changes to black, everyone appearing to be sketchy black figures, like the creepy drawings I sometimes do in my sketchbook of demons and such. But it doesn't last a second; it's like a quick flash before my eyes. Everything around me, including myself, still feels heavy, but by the time I get up to Bruno, and when Mitsuhiro gets back to the line of students, everything suddenly goes back to normal. When I look back at Mitsuhiro, I see that there's a grim look on his face; did he feel what I felt? Did _everyone_ experience it? Or was it. . . just me? I need to get a hold of myself, but before I can, Bruno asks me to tell everyone else about myself.

"I'm, uh, Uzuki Kasahara," I begin. I clear my throat, still a little freaked out from that weird feeling I got from passing Mitsuhiro. "I'm partnered with Mitsuhiro Minamimoto. I don't fight with weapons that much, but I have to say that the scythe is probably my favorite weapon. I defend myself with hand-to-hand combat skills that my brothers taught me though, and I also learned a bit of capoiera on my own. My strengths are reading auras and agility, and my weaknesses are people with horrible auras and throwing shurikens. I also like to draw. Um, that's all."

Bruno smiles and then gestures me back to the group.

The next one to go is Russell. He introduces himself and says that his weakness is people who don't bother to learn about other countries; like that's going to make much difference in battle, but oh well.

The line of students introducing themselves continues. There are people who fight with swords, with bombs, with hand-to-hand self defense; and there are people with weaknesses such as fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of fire, and so on. The list goes on and on; I have to try and keep myself awake by the time we're halfway through. Shuto is the next one to go up, so I figure I have to pay attention. Have I even talked about Shuto yet? I don't think I have.

Shuto is in the tenth grade, one year younger than Yashiro and me. He's considerably tall, just a little shorter than Mitsuhiro (the fact that I'm comparing him to Mitsuhiro of all people scares me), and he has long blond-white hair that goes about a quarter down his back. He wears glasses, and he's always wearing some sort of outfit that resembles a lab coat. He's pretty intelligent for his age; he especially excels in the study of medicines and hopes to become a doctor someday. When I look at him, I'm immediately reminded of Yashiro's older brother, Higashizawa Takahashi. He graduated a year after we arrived at the Hyrule Academy; he's twenty now, and he's a well-known apothecary around Hyrule. They even resemble each other in looks too; Higashizawa has hair that's about the same length as Shuto's - the only difference is that Higashizawa's hair is a much darker blonde, with a lot more orange mixed in. He wears glasses like Shuto. He's also much, much taller. Not to mention his awesome goatee. Shuto just wouldn't look right with a goatee. Maybe when he's a little older.

When Shuto goes up, I decide to pay attention anyways. I don't want him to notice how tired I look.

"My name is Shuto Kaniji," he says in his gentle, calm and intelligent voice. "I am a freshman in the Hyrule Academy this year. I consider my strengths, in any relation to Strategics & Defense class, to be strategizing, healing, and productive thinking. My weakness would be head-on battling; I would much rather stay on the sidelines and come up with battle plans than be the one who has to utilize the battle plan."

Bruno looks totally. . . clueless. I guess he wasn't expecting Shuto to release an entire entourage of scientific words on him. But I guess I can't blame Shuto either; he's just like that, from the formal family he was raised in and his constant studying.

"Uh, you can go back now, Kaniji," Bruno mutters, scratching his head in confusion. "Now, who's next. . ."

"Hey! Yeah, hey!" a voice calls.

Bruno looks at the line, trying to find the source of the voice.

"I'm over here, douchebag! Come on, are you friggin' blind? I'm the one with the red hair and the face tattoos! Over _here!"_

Bruno finally spots the boy. It's Saru.

"You? Right, we almost forgot you. . ."

"Hell yeah you almost forgot me! For Goddesses' sake, how could you miss me, ya frigger?"

"Don't talk out of line, boy," Bruno growls, his eyebrows lowering in anger. "Get your butt up here."

"Yes sir, Mr. Boss man," Saru laughs as he makes a saluting gesture. Saru walks up to Bruno, and then turns to the crowd. He does a fancy bow, and then smiles a toothy, wild grin.

And then in a very weird accent, Saru says, "My name is Saru. Surname: The Awesome."

The crowd laughs. Bruno doesn't look pleased, but he lets Saru continue anyways.

"I like playing the guitar and writing songs; I guess you could call those my strengths - don't see what that could do for this waste of a class, but oh well. And my weakness: none! I can't name off one weakness that I have! Comedy, maybe."

"Alright, that's quite enough, Saru," Bruno mutters angrily. "You can go back to the line now."

"Hope to talk to all you losers later! Keep on rocking!" He sticks out his tongue crazily as he walks back to the line. "Some of you are awesome though! Mitsuhiro-san, you keep on living!"

Mitsuhiro snickers under his breath. _What was that all about?_ I think.

"Well, he's not the craziest I've had," Bruno sighs. "Don't get me started on that crazy sucker I had a few years back; that lunatic set my arm on fire one time. If any of you are as crazy as him, step forward now so that I can kick you out right away." He laughs, so I'm hoping he's just joking.

_Makoto-kun,_ I think, a smile growing on my face. _You never fail to impress me, Makoto. I'm just as crazy as you are. . . but I'__m not going to step forward. May as__ well hide my insanity better than you ever did. _

And the introductions continue. At one point I almost keel over from being so tired. I think the only thing that's keeping me awake is Bruno's loud voice, and the gaze that Mitsuhiro shoots at me every few moments.

Finally, when all the students introduce themselves, Bruno dismisses us from class. I feel like falling over, but Saichi grabs my shoulder before I get the chance.

"Tired, Uzuki?" he asks me jokingly.

"Ugh. . ." I grumble. "I'm going to the bookstore on the way home. . . do you want to come along?"

"Sure. There may be a few new bestiary books out. I'd like to check them out and see if there are any entries on the Fairy Tree Man yet," Saichi snickers.

"Give it a rest, Saichi, there are no books on Fairy Tree Man because no one else believes in him besides you and I. Yashiro takes it as a funny joke, and Mikumi just rolls his eyes whenever you mention him."

"I love Fairy Tree Man. . ." Saichi says happily, his face lighting up with interest. "I wish he'd just come here so that I can give him a giant hug. . ."

"Bookstore, huh?" someone joins in. I look back to see Mitsuhiro standing behind me.

"You know, I wish you would stop doing that," I growl.

"Doing what?" Mitsuhiro mutters, raising his eyebrow.

"Popping up out of nowhere," I reply.

"Like the Fairy Tree Man," Saichi points out, a smile on his face.

"I told you, that was a joke," Mitsuhiro mutters. "My nickname isn't really the Fairy Tree Man, no matter how much I resemble him. I really have no relation to that creature. Although I have seen things that are much like the Fairy Tree Man. Can't say I've seen the real thing, though."

Saichi lets out a sigh, his expression saddening.

"We're going to the bookstore, Mitsuhiro," I growl. "And don't even _think_ about popping up there. If you do, you're _dead_."

"Ooh, so scary," he says in a haunting voice. "I guess I have to sleep with one eye open tonight, huh?"

_What a jerk!_ I think angrily.

"Hey, Yashiro!" I call. I want to ignore Mitsuhiro's snobbiness; maybe if I bring more people along, I can ignore him easier when he pops up at the bookstore, unwanted. "Want to come to the bookstore with me and Saichi?"

"Sorry, I have to babysit Ina and Iru today!" she calls back. "Some other time, okay?"

"Mikumi! Want to go to the bookstore with me and Saichi?"

"Sorry, Takuma made another bet with me, so I gotta go kick his ass! If I win, he has to do my homework for a whole week!"

"No way, Takuma's going to make you fail!" Yashiro laughs. "Better change it to something that's not going to affect your grades."

"Hey, shut up!" Takuma growls.

I sigh. Guess it's just me and Saichi. And Mitsuhiro if he decides to pop up out of nowhere. I don't mind hanging out with Saichi, it's just the fact that Mitsuhiro is most likely going to spying on me that makes me feel uneasy.

"Alright, then I guess it's just you and me," I say to Saichi. "Let's just go."

"Have a good day, Uzuki-chan," Mitsuhiro says with a wave of his hand. "Don't let the Fairy Tree Man catch you."

I scowl at him one more time before turning around and leaving for the bookstore, Saichi walking beside me. I can feel Mitsuhiro's gaze burning into the back of my head, his black eyes trapped in my mind like a never-ending song.

Saichi and I leave the school grounds, and head for the bookstore that's just right across the street. We stop to try and find an opening between the crowds of people that are running around like bees.

"That Mitsuhiro guy sure is weird," Saichi mutters. "He sure likes to tease you, too."

"He knows that it gets to me," I mumble. "I could tell he was just trying to make my life a little more miserable."

"Oh well, it could be worse. He's just teasing you."

"Hah, you haven't seen his aura," I laugh. "I swear, it's creepy! And it's so cruel it makes me sick!"

"Hm, the great and evil Uzuki is getting beaten at her own game? That's not like you."

"Learn to read auras and you'll know what I'm talking about."

We finally run across the street, pushing through the groups of people that are walking on the street. Suddenly, we hear a screeching sound. Saichi and I speed up, jumping onto the sidewalk where it's safe, just in time to see a car spinning onto the road. The driver somersaults out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement right before the car crashes into the brick wall of a nearby building. Smoke begins to rise up from the machine, and the rest of the people start to disperse from the area.

That's an ordinary thing here. Right now, a bunch of smart-ass scientists are testing out these machines they call 'cars'. Apparently they got their hands on these machines from old ruins that used to belong to the Sky People, the species known as the Oocca. Actually, it's only Taishou and I that know that (Taishou is my oldest brother by the way). Taishou studies a lot of history about Hyrule, and I always end up listening in on his little lectures. The Oocca were apparently born way before the Hylians, humans, and every other tribe of Hyrule came into being. However, they soon became endangered, and disappeared, leaving for the heavens above. Because they used to live here on this land, they left a few ruins laying around, and the scientists that research them got their hands on these ruins. The Oocca had special floating vehicles that were supported with thick bronze and copper fans from underneath them. They could float, but because of all the years of laying around and gathering dust, they eventually stopped working. The scientists have been trying to work them, and for some reason, they're stupid enough to test them in the open streets of Hyrule instead of out in a field somewhere. There haven't been any deaths yet, but some people have been getting severely injured due to these things running amok in the streets. Taishou claims that it's because the machines could only be started with the Oocca themselves; they had a special way of starting the things up and operating them. He said that it had something to do with 'connecting your soul' to the machine.

Either way, besides all the history behind these machines, they have been misused by these idiotic people and Hylians have been getting hurt because of it. People have complained, but the scientists don't even listen, and unfortunately, due to the fact that they're trained magic users, the defense core of Hyrule can't do anything about it because they're too scared to get their faces burned off by fire magic.

"You okay?" Saichi asks me. "No scratches?"

"Yeah, I'm safe," I reply as I remove my gaze from the car and back at Saichi. "I'm getting sick of this happening. How many months have they been doing this now?"

"I think three and a half, maybe," he answers. "People have gotten used to it, but it's still not safe. I seriously want to go up to those scientists and punch them across the face."

"We'll leave that to Yashiro, Taishou and Mikoshi. They actually know how to fight," I laugh. Mikoshi is my second brother; he's only a few years younger than Taishou. At a glance, the two seem like opposites, mostly because Taishou is a giant in both height and weight, and Mikoshi is a lot thinner. But they're attitudes and personalities are both the same, to a point; they're both disgusting too.

"You're not too bad at fighting either though."

"I have a few strengths, but not enough to take those jerks down."

Saichi grabs the door and opens it for me. "Shall we?" he asks, a smile on his face.

"Thanks," I say as I step inside of the clean and tidy book store. It's always so warm and bright in here; coming in here always lifts my spirits. There are so many books here too; it could serve as its own library, except you still have to pay for the books. There are two that run this store, a young and smart teenager, and his mother, an elderly woman named Florence who always smells like new books and perfume. Her teenage son, Flint, is rather knowledgeable in things, from history, math, science, and languages. He used to be Shuto's study friend before he graduated last year. He's nineteen now, but he still looks like a fifteen-year-old. He's tall and lanky, with a bit of beard growing on the sides of his face, and he has spiky brown hair that ends in little tufts near the end of his neck. He wears glasses, and he's always got a book in front of him. As nerdy and book-loving he may sound, he still has a pretty good social life (not saying smart people can't have a good social life, but he also fits into the 'nerd' category); he's pretty popular with the girls, and he plays soccer on the weekend with his friends.

I scan the bookshelves for any interesting books, and I finally spot the book that I've been looking at for so many weeks. It's a thick, leather-encased book, titled "Reaper". I didn't really know the specifics behind it until Flint explained it to me; it basically covers the history, origins, and habits of the creatures known as Reapers, creatures that are born from the dead bodies of humans. More or less, when a human dies with revenge in their heart, their soul gets pulled out from their body and put into a new, much stronger body, and they become Reapers. They can't live in this world though, in the Realm of Light. Instead, they dwell in the world known as the Dark Realm, a world that's completely shrouded in darkness. I already knew about the Dark Realm from Taishou, but I never imagined that there were creatures so resembling of humans that lived there. Apparently, Reaper's kill humans too; but I guess that's all in the food chain and the circle of life, so I don't really worry about it. Besides, like the Oocca, the tale of the Reapers isn't really supposed to be taken as absolute proof; it's really something to be researched individually by people who are interested in them and believe that they may be real. I don't really know what to think, but the book looked interesting when I scanned through it, and I liked the illustrations. I'm sure I could get some good drawing ideas off the illustrations portrayed in this book.

Unfortunately, the book is pretty expensive. If it wasn't, this book wouldn't still be here; I would have bought it weeks ago. It's the only copy in the whole store, but thankfully Flint was kind enough to hold onto the copy for me and not sell it to anyone. It's for the high price of two hundred and fifty rupees; for a book, that's pretty expensive. So far, I have one hundred and five rupees saved up; money that I've found lying around, received as birthday money, or had as change from lunch money that my mother gave me. I really don't like working. I'd like to sell artwork, but I think it would be too hard to part with my works of art. I always gain too much of a connection to my drawings.

"Hey Flint!" I call, turning around slightly to look at him behind the counter, reading a book on music. He looks up, and smiles.

"Can I help you, Uzuki-san?" he asks.

"Has anybody asked to buy this book since the last time I was here?" I ask.

He laughs. "Don't worry, Uzuki, I won't let anyone buy it! Do you really want it that bad? You didn't seem all that interested in it when you first saw it. . . even after I explained it, you seemed a little lost. . ."

"Well, Taishou told me a bit about the Reapers too, so I'm starting to get a grasp on them, and I want to know more!"

"You just want to do the illustrations in your sketchbook," Saichi mumbles, not bothering to look up from the thick bestiary book in his hands.

"Shush," I mutter as I shoot a quick glare at him. "You're one to talk; you're trying to find the Fairy Tree Man again, aren't you?"

"Shush to you, too," he laughs. "He's going to show up in these books some day; we just gotta wait for a few more kids to get abducted and for people to start realizing that it's the Fairy Tree Man and not some random kidnapper."

"Yes, but we want less people to know about him," I explain. "The more people know about him, the stronger he gets, and the more people he kills; therefore it's safer if he stays out of the books and is never discovered by those with a lot of curiosity."

Saichi sighs. "I guess you're right, but I still wish he'd show his face a lot more."

"The Lost Woods may be a good spot to look," I suggest.

"Wouldn't do that," Flint cuts in. "You know what happens to children who go into the Lost Woods, right, Uzuki-chan?"

"Would Saichi be young enough for that to happen to him?"

"Better safe than sorry; we don't need Saichi turning into a Skull Kid, now do we?" Then he smiles and continues to read his book.

Flint was right, about kids entering the Lost Woods and turning into Skull Kids. It's a process that happens whenever a Hylian child wanders out into the forest and gets lost; their soul soon becomes warped into the darkness, and they become Skull Kids. I don't think it could happen to Saichi considering he's not a child, but like Flint, it's better to be safe than sorry. It's really only the Kokiri and the Skull Kids themselves who know their way through the maze of the Lost Woods.

"Sorry, Flint, but you're going to have to hold onto this book a bit longer for me," I sigh. "I still haven't saved up all the money for it yet. The price for this book is so ridiculous that it's silly."

"It's fine, Uzuki-san, I don't mind one bit; as long as you are satisfied with the book after purchasing it."

"At this rate, I'll _have _to love it considering the price I'm paying for it," I laugh as I put the book back into its place. Saichi puts back the bestiary book too; if it doesn't have the Fairy Tree Man in it, then he won't buy it.

"Are you interested in anything else?" Flint asks.

"No, I'm going to keep saving my money for that book; if I go spending my savings on smaller things, I'll run out of money in no time," I snicker.

"Oh, before you leave, I must show you something that we're going to release in the store soon," Flint says. He leans down behind the counter, and comes back up with a small, wooden, rectangular box. He lifts the lid, and inside is a writing pen.

"A writing pen, huh? What's so special about it?" I ask. I have to admit though, it's very pretty; it's handle is a shiny black, with green twilight markings woven around it. The metal nib itself is very fine.

"Just came in a few days ago. It's specially crafted so that you can write - and draw - in a variety of different styles, including calligraphy."

"Wow. . ." I gasp. "How much?"

"When it's released in the store, one hundred rupees."

"D-Dammit. . ." I stammer in annoyance and sadness.

"If you'd like, I can hold both the book and one of these pens for you," Flint offers.

"Would you do that for me?" I ask. "I don't want you holding too many things for me. . ."

"It's no trouble at all, Uzuki-san," he says as he puts the lid back on the box, and then puts the box back on the shelf underneath the counter.

I smile at him one more time before turning around and walking towards the door.

W-What was that? I think. Something caught my eye as I walked past the large window next to the counter; I snap my neck to the left to look back at the window, but what I saw is already gone. It was a person, I'm sure of it. From what my eye caught in such a split second, it was a man, dressed entirely in black. Was it Mitsuhiro? No, it couldn't have been; Mitsuhiro wasn't wearing a suit today.

"S-Saichi," I stammer. "Did you see anyone standing outside the window?"

Saichi turns around and replies with a shake of his head. "No, I don't think so. Why? Did you see someone?"

I look back at the window, seeing only the street past it and the people rushing by. Not one of those people look like the person I saw in the window.

"I guess it was just my mind playing tricks on me again. . ." I sigh. I head for the door, opening it for Saichi as we both step outside onto the pavement.

_It was nothing. . ._ I think. _Mitsuhiro wouldn't follow me, would he? He's not that stupid. . ._

* * *

**A Very Short Interlude**

The man in the suit crouched on the roof of the bookstore building, watching the young girl and her friend leave the store and walk down the street towards the southern end of Hyrule. The man smiles once, before looking up to the twilight-growing sky as his black suit rips off into shards of darkness, his entire body disappearing into the sky.


	3. Fairy Tree Man, Fallen Angels

Hey everybody,

Well, I find this chapter is sorta slow/short, but that's only because I'm having a hard time coming up with good action scenes. So far Reaper is more of a Shoujo (girl manga) then a Shounen (boy manga), which I really don't want :/ Although it's nice to have a mixture of both, considering the main character is a girl. . . but the manga, Claymore, is a shounen, and the main character is female (I think? I don't know, I don't read Claymore XD). I was actually going to end the chapter with a peek at Link's adventure to meet the Princess Zelda for the first time, but then I remembered, "Oh, crap, he's living with Byrne right now in Clock Town, not on his journey. . ." so I ended up re-writing the ending, which was a pain :/ I actually started this chapter a long while back but I had serious writer's block at the slow parts, and I got bored. I finally got it done though. Hope you enjoy, R&R.

P.S. I quite enjoy the ending to this chapter though :)

-Uzuki Cheverie

Ad-ad-ad-ad-adventure to find

The legendary land

Re-re-re-re-recorded

In the old book

The white dove

- Miku Hatsune,___Hato (White Dove)_

___(English Translation)_

**Time Gate: Reaper**

**Chapter 3: Fairy Tree Man, Fallen Angels, and Death Threats  
**

Our visit to the bookstore finished, Saichi and I stroll down the crowded streets of Hyrule, being sure to stay on the side of the road so that we don't get hit by any cars. Saichi is still complaining about the Fairy Tree Man's absence from the newest bestiary book, and normally I would join in the conversation/rant, but I'm too freaked out by what I saw outside the window at the bookstore. It may have just been Makoto walking by, but the figure seemed a little too tall for it to be him. My head is telling me that it was Mitsuhiro, and so far, that's what I'm believing. The only thing that was off was that he was wearing a suit; I'm pretty sure he had been wearing a loose, but formal, dress shirt with a pair of jeans today.

"I just have to cross my fingers that he appears in the next book," Saichi continues.

"Saichi, if you want Fairy Tree Man to be in the bestiary that bad, why don't you just write your own?" I suggest, letting out a sigh.

Saichi stops in his tracks, smiles with eyes sparkling, and then starts walking around.

"Well, I know what I'm doing tomorrow!" he says happily.

I stare at him wide-eyed. "T-That's great and all, Saichi, but you'd need to compile information about a bunch of other creatures too," I add. "You'd have to gain the information yourself; you can't just take it from another bestiary book."

"That's fine. As long as you do something for me."

"Huh? What do you want _me_ to do?"

"Draw the monsters! I don't have a deluxe pictobox, and I need to aid the information with photos _and_ sketches - that's where _you_ come in! We can both take pictures - once we get a pictobox, that is - and you can do the sketches! I can't draw for shit, so it would be great if you did the drawing part."

"Eh, sounds a little fun. . . but do I have to agree to it?" I groan.

"It would be very much appreciated, yes," Saichi replies.

"Hm. . . I don't know. . ."

Saichi rubs his chin, becoming deep in thought. "Alright, how about this then? If you do the drawings, I'll buy you that new pen that Flint showed you at the store when it comes out."

I stare at him. "You're not buying me that pen, Saichi! You know how much I hate it when people buy me things!" My hands curl up into fists and I grind my teeth together.

"Well, I love driving you nuts with that sort of stuff," he laughs with a smug grin.

It was true. I don't like it when people do things for me; from buying me a drink from the cafe to buying me a birthday gift. It makes me feel. . . a little pathetic. I don't know why; it just does.

"Look, I know you want that pen," Saichi continues in a matter-of-factually voice. "I can get you the pen, if you just do the drawings for me."

"Ugh. . ." I groan. I really do want that pen, but I don't like the idea of someone else buying it for me. But I'm saving up for that book and I don't want Flint to hold the pen for me when he's already holding the only copy of that book. . .

"F-Fine," I stammer. "But if that pen is really expensive, I'll-"

"Don't worry about the price, Uzuki! You're helping me compile a bestiary book, it's the least I can do!" Saichi laughs.

"Alright. . . I guess I've got nothing to lose." _Except for a little piece of my pride and dignity. _

Saichi smiles and pats my head. "You won't regret it. It'll be fun. I may just get Mikumi in on it too, if he wants to join; and Takuma and Yashiro."

"My sister would probably be a good photographer," I suggest. "She's actually saving up for an deluxe pictobox; all she has now is black and white. Those fireflies that are required for the upgrade are pretty pricey, and she doesn't want to take the trip all the way out to Kokiri Forest just for a firefly.

_Am I getting too sucked into this? It can't hurt to help him out just a little though, right?_

"My brother, Taishou, wouldn't join, but I'm sure he could tell you the locations of some monsters that are harder to find," I add. "He has the entire _Deluxe Bestiary_ memorized from the inside-out."

Saichi puts his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner and looks up to the sky. "I feel like the Fairy Tree Man is finally going to become known," he sighs.

"Just don't blame me if it results in more people getting infected," I growl. "You'll have a heavy weight on your shoulders if it does."

"I'm willing to take responsibility. Besides, it wouldn't be all my fault; blame that awful group that created him in the first place and those stupid fake photographers that basically willed him into existence. Stupid Tulpa. . ."

I laugh at his remark, and he smiles back.

Saichi always knows how to cheer me up.

We soon stop in front of Saichi's house, at the west side of Hyrule. His home is pretty nice; a shingled roof with vines of flowers climbing up the side of the brick chimney, the brick house surrounded by a fence and rose bushes, and a shed behind the house that's used for storing firewood and other tools.

"Thanks for coming along with me to the bookstore, Saichi," I say.

He grins. "No problem, Uzuki, I was glad to come along. Let's hang out tomorrow so we can discuss the bestiary book, okay?"

I nod with a smile. Saichi pats my head again before saying goodbye, and then he enters his house, closing the door behind him.

All alone, I let out a sigh, and then I turn around, walking down the stone path towards the street that curves in the direction of southern Castle Town. The golden-brown leaves of autumn have begun to fall, a little bit at a time. The sun is still in the sky, so it's probably four or four-thirty.

I tap my toes against the ground as I walk quietly down the street, trying to avoid the swarms of busy people. I start to tap my toes to the rhythm of a song that's stuck in my head. It's a song that I didn't really like at first, but soon came to appreciate it's playful and cute tune and beat. Len, a friend of mine in the twelfth grade, learned the dance after I taught her the basics. It has a bit of tap dancing in it, so whenever I tap my toes against the ground, I'm immediately reminded of it, the song titled "White Dove". The song infects my head, the chorus and multiple verses repeating themselves in my brain over and over again until I make it to my house. I consider my house an okay place to live – it has a small fireplace and warm beds, so I can't complain. I just hate _living _there. Let's just put it this way: I hate my family. They're not overly-cheery – at least that would make them a little fun – and they're not over-protective – not like Saichi's crazy mother, but at least if my parents were a little more protective that would show that they care – and they're barely even home. Half the time it feels like I'm raising myself, my younger sister, my little brother, and my baby sister as well. My mother works at the Hyrule Academy as a secretary, and my dad can't hold down a job for his life, so he just drinks and parties with his friends all day and night. The only family I actually appreciate: my younger sister, Chiyo, my oldest brother Taishou, and my second-oldest brother Mikoshi; they're people that I actually still have some respect for (although my respect for Chiyo can be questionable at times). My younger brother Shyoto is just a pain in the ass because he's so hyper, so whatever sort of respect I had for him was thrown out the window the first time he did something stupid to me (and don't ask me what that was, I wouldn't be able to remember that time among the sea of stupid things that he's done to me in the past).

When I get home, the door is still locked, which means that Chiyo isn't home because she decided to stay after school – again. My mom works about an hour after I leave school, so she's usually home around five – five-thirty if she decides to go to the market (which happens maybe once every two weeks when she gets paid). I reach under the welcome mat and grab the silver key that's hidden underneath. I put the key in the knob, turn it, and then open the door, stepping inside the quiet and empty house. I put the key back under the mat before shutting the door behind me and throwing my school bag in the dining room.

"Here, Jackie," I call. The cat perks its head out from the living room, and runs towards me on his tiny little kitten feet. I lift him up and hold his small, black-furred body in the palms of my hands, and I sit down with him on the lounge chair near the door. Shyoto is at his daycare, Chiyo is at school, my mother is at work, and my father is Goddess-knows-where. I like the quiet in my home when it's just me here. I can always just sit here with my little kitten Jackie and enjoy the rest of my day, until my parents and my sister get home and the place turns into a total madhouse. I always wish that Taishou and Mikoshi lived with me, but they're not exactly blood-related brothers, so they don't live with us, not to mention that they're both old enough to take care of themselves. They're my half-brothers – we share the same father, but have different mothers. They're mother treats me and Chiyo like one of her own though, and I couldn't be more thankful for her kindness. My brother Taishou is twenty-five, and he lives in Castle Town, but he lives in the much quieter west side, so we don't see him often. Mikoshi lives in the south side of Castle Town, and he gets out a lot more, so we see him a lot more often than Taishou. But I love them both, and I know that they're always watching over their younger siblings.

Jackie comes up and bats my nose with his furry kitten paw, and then meows. I smile at him and pet his head, and he purrs happily in response while he licks my nose like a little puppy. This is the toughest part of the day; trying to find something to do. Playing piano always lifts my spirits, but I can never seem to keep myself occupied by it for long; I usually just play my favorite songs and then continue on to do something else after that. There are songs that I really want to learn, but my laziness and procrastination always becomes an obstacle for me.

I sigh in boredom and get up from the chair, setting Jackie down on the cushion as I head for the grand piano that's sitting in the corner of the living room. It's quite an old piano; it used to belong to Taishou and Mikoshi's mother before she gave it to me. She knew that I loved practicing the piano, and considering I didn't have one, she gave up hers because she never played it anymore. It's old, but it still sounds so beautiful.

I seat myself on the piano bench, and I start to play just a regular old tune that I've known ever since I went to the first carnival in Hyrule. It's still a song that people play on just regular, cheerful days. The song that the people in the market dance to, including the poor people in the slums and even the juggling brothers who juggle colorful beanbags between them for the people to watch and praise.

I check the clock on the wall, the clock that Taishou had given me that he had brought home with him from his travels in Termina. After deciphering the images and rotations on the round, slowly-spinning clock, I see that it's five, which means that my mother will probably soon be home if she didn't stop at the market.

I sigh to myself and continue to play through all the songs that I know on the piano. It's the same thing every day: come home from school, play piano, and then try to find stuff to do for the rest of the bloody day. Hanging out with Chiyo can be okay, but when she's having one of her hyper days, I just tend to back away. That's the one thing that separates me from Chiyo and Shyoto – I don't get hyper. Although Yashiro has actually observed me at school and has stated that my body is actually _vibrating_ constantly, but it's only really noticeable when I'm cold; which is all the time in that freezing lunch room. Not to mention I always wear skimpy things, even in the winter – spaghetti-strap tank tops, high-cut shorts, low jackets; it's just my favorite style of clothing. And it can have its up-sides when I have conversations with the girls that would give up one of their own limbs for a new wardrobe. I'm violent, but I still like to look my best.

Playing the piano soon gets boring as it does every day, so I head upstairs to my room and close the door behind me, laying down my bed to rest until my mother and my sister get home. I enjoy the quiet, but the loneliness gets to me sometimes. Seeing Yashiro, Saichi, Mikumi, Takuma, and all the rest of my friends brightens my entire day, and then when I get home, I find myself completely and utterly bored out of my mind.

And thus, my life continues at a slow yet quick pace. These days are always uneventful, but I still find that they pass by without any notice at all. I don't feel like I'm wasting my life though – I'm living it the way I want. Some people would give up anything to just sit in an empty house and do what they want, like play the piano, or write, or draw. It's a privilege that I have, which I should be happy with.

But I'm not.

I'm too bored. I need something more entertaining to do. If I don't find something fun to do, I might go crazy in this house.

That's another thing I hate in my life.

This house.

It's always so dreadfully quiet when no one's inside, but at the same time, it's too _loud_. The silence is deafening – I feel like I'm listening to the screams of the human beings who have been dragged down to hell. I almost went crazy in this house several times before; I heard voices, I felt presences, I saw things. I don't know what kind of mental condition it is, may it be schizophrenia or obsessive compulsion disorder, but it causes me to get scared of just sitting down by myself.

So, I get up from my piano, and I leave the house. I leave a note on the door for my parents so that they don't tear the house apart looking for me, and then I lock the door behind me so that they don't get mad at me later for not locking the door.

And I head down to the one place where I can actually call home.

I head to the western side of Castle Town, hoping that my brother Taishou will be home. I'd head to Mikoshi's, but I haven't seen Taishou in a long while. I'll probably see Mikoshi there anyways – he visits Taishou a few times a week just to check up on him, or rather, so that they can check up on each other. And I like to visit a few times as well, but I've been visiting Mikoshi more than Taishou lately, and I like to keep the number of visits even for the two of them. And chances are that Taishou is giving Saichi a wedgie or punching him, so I'd better go save Saichi as well.

I stop at the intersection, where hordes of Hylians are scrambling through the streets, getting to where they need to go. This is a four-way intersection, the centre of Hyrule Castle Town. I call this place the scramble crossing. In the middle of it all is a great fountain that's supported by the water of Zora's Domain, the place where all our water comes from. Head north, and you'll be stopped at the gate that leads to Hyrule Castle. South, and you'll end up in the marketplace. East, you'll get to the alleys, where a bunch of fun things are always set up – circus tents, fortune teller houses, and other things of that matter. And if you head west, you'll hit the quiet side of Hyrule, where most people who hate the noise tend to want to live. I wanted to live there at one point, but the houses there are also kinda expensive. They're just really big – the biggest is four storeys, and that's not including the attic.

At the intersection, I locate the western side of Hyrule Castle Town, right across from me. All I have to do is cross the street and try not to get run over by people or cars. I look both ways first, but before I can even take a step forward, a voice stops me.

"What do you know, it's Uzuki."

I stop mid-step, and look back at the person standing behind me. Makoto Takahashi, Yashiro's stepbrother.

"Hey Makoto," I mutter. "What's up?"

"I think Minamimoto is following you," he says, getting straight to the point as usual.

I blink in surprise. "What makes you say that all of a sudden?"

"Gee, I dunno," he sneers. "Maybe the fact that he's standing right at the north intersection, and he's looking straight at you-" He looks to the north side of Hyrule, "-us," he corrects himself.

I look in the same direction he's looking, and sure enough, Mitsuhiro is standing there, just barely glancing at us.

"Dammit, you're right," I mutter to Makoto, trying not to look back at Mitsuhiro.

"He's kind of a creeper, you know?" he snickers.

"Oh, and you're a pleasant person too?" I laugh back.

"More or less," he mutters. "Where are you headed at this time of the day? It's after five."

"I got bored at home, so I'm heading to my brother Taishou's house," I answer, pointing to the west side of Hyrule.

"That gorilla?" Makoto snickers again. "You sure got guts."

"Hey, don't insult my brother, or I'll insult yours."

"Higashizawa isn't my brother, he's my step-brother."

"So? Whether or not you're related by blood, you're still brothers."

Makoto is silent as he pulls out a water bottle and takes a sip from it. When he's done, he puts the cap back on and puts it back into his jacket pocket. We stand there and wait for the crowd to die down enough for us to cross. We even stand there silently as a car passes through and the people scream, running out of range of the uncontrollable machine. A child screams, a mother cries, but in the end, everyone is fine.

"Serves human beings right, huh?" Makoto finally says, breaking the silence that had been passing between us. "Meddling with technology that they're not supposed to be able to control. . ."

I nod my head. "Humans are only going to face damnation. . . I don't need you to tell me that, Makoto – I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own. We humans are stupid, meddling with things that are far out of our reach and control. . ."

". . . And we shall only kill ourselves in the end," Makoto finishes for me.

I nod again, not giving him so much as a glance. "Death is an escape from this horrible world – life after death, who knows. Only the ones who died know, and we cannot ask the dead what they have seen."

"Unless you met a Reaper, right?" Makoto teases me. "Reapers don't exist, Uzuki."

"And how do you know that?" I object.

"How do _you_ know?" Makoto challenges. "Have you ever met a Reaper?"

I become silent.

"Exactly," Makoto hisses, taking another sip from his water. "Don't go chasing after things that don't exist, Uzuki. Like a human, you'll only kill yourself in the end."

I continue to stare ahead, not looking at him, not saying at him.

"Alright, Makoto," I finally say in a quiet sigh. "Where are _you_ going?"

He looks surprised at my random question, but then he replies, "I'm heading to Higashizawa's place out in the west side. We're going on a hunt for the demon pig."

"Have you ever seen the demon pig before?" I challenge, still refusing to look at him.

"No. That's why we're hunting for it."

I take a step forward, heading out into the street and leaving Makoto behind. Then I look back at him with a cold stare.

"And that, my hypocritical idiotic human, is why I'm hunting for Reapers."

Makoto smiles. I've met his expectations for the day – I challenged his own beliefs. That's the thing with Makoto, you always have to bully him in order to get what you want. Another thing. . . human beings are all his own little chess pieces. That's why he doesn't trust a lot of people.

And that's also why I trust him, no matter how much he might detest me.

When I cross the street, I happen to notice Mitsuhiro has already started walking as well. Based on where he's standing and the direction he's headed, I can assume that he's headed for southern Castle Town.

And straight for me.

We cross paths right at the middle of the intersection, near the fountain. Mitsuhiro grins at me, nodding his head at me as to greet me, and walks by without saying a single word.

No.

I can tell that he's saying something to me. I can feel the atmosphere around us become heavy, and I suddenly can't find myself moving. And neither is he. It's like he's trapped us both in this other world, where everything and everyone slows down and becomes silent. Things start to look different too. Mitsuhiro's pale skin stands out much more from his black hair, and that seems to be the only thing that stands out amongst everything else around me. I stare at him in surprise, and then he slowly looks at me, a grin growing on his face. A very hostile grin. The kind of grin that says, "I know something that you don't."

And then, all of it is over, and I find myself walking towards the west side of Castle Town, like nothing happened. I look over my shoulder to see Mitsuhiro walking towards the south side, also acting as if nothing had happened.

But he knows something that I don't.

I can tell by the way he looked at me just a second ago.

And I assume it's something that he doesn't want me to know, ever.

Because if I do find out, it may be bad news for me.

Thinking back on what happened at the intersection, I feel pretty stupid.

Now I'm at Taishou's, eating a cookie while he sits there in his comfy chair, not muttering a word while he watches me.

I feel stupid thinking back on what happened because I dealt with the situation like it was life-threatening. It was just Mitsuhiro acting like himself. I really shouldn't worry myself too much about it, otherwise Taishou will notice, and then I'll have to start explaining about Mitsuhiro, and then it'll get _really_ awkward (because Taishou knows how to start awkward conversations, believe me – don't get me started on his 'drug lecture'.).

"Taishou, could you quit staring at me while I eat, thank you?" I ask him annoyingly.

Taishou looks to the side once, and then looks back at me.

_Why should you care about that? _

That's what he's telling me in his silent way of speaking.

"Come on Taishou, even this level of silence is surprising for you," I mutter, finishing off the cookie. "What's going on?"

He leans back into his chair and stares up at the ceiling for a few minutes. I sit there and wait for him to begin speaking. We sit there for what feels like hours, and then finally, he says what he wants to say.

"An Angel came to Hyrule today. All the way from the kingdom of Kalasia."

I widen my eyes in surprise, my mouth agape. "An Angel? That's amazing! I wonder if I'll be able to meet her. . ."

"She's not a good one," he hisses. "I saw her, and by the way she acted, I could tell that she's on the verge of becoming a Fallen."

"Why? What did she say?"

"She said how long I had left to live," Taishou says. "Angels aren't supposed to reveal a human's lifespan to that human – it's forbidden, and any Angel that does so usually get their wings destroyed."

"That's. . . horrible," I gasp. "T-Taishou. . . how long do you have left?" _I don't want to know. I don't want to know. But I have to know. Taishou is too important to me – I can't have him die yet. . ._

"Apparently she said I'll live till I'm elderly, but she said I was one of those people that have lifespans that are always changing," he said. "Which means I could die when I'm thirty, or when I'm eighty – it's never really certain."

That helps me calm down a little, but not much. Because that means that Taishou will not be able to live his remaining days to the fullest – he has to live every day in fear of dying. But then again, Taishou and I have both accepted death. If we die, we die. It's just a part of life to us. I just don't want him to die anytime soon. That would surely just tear me apart.

"Uzuki, have you felt the atmosphere around you change in the past few weeks?" Taishou asks me, finally taking his eyes off the ceiling and looking at me.

"Not really," I reply, although part of that is a lie. Today when I crossed Mitsuhiro in the scramble, the atmosphere _definitely_ changed. But I don't think it's Mitsuhiro that Taishou is noticing. "What kind of presence do you feel?" I ask.

"Evil," he mutters. "Kind of like the evil that Ganondorf emits, but not the same. It's a more twisted kind of evil – less hostile, but a little more insane and cruel."

"More cruel than Ganondorf?" I snicker. "Wow, we're in trouble now, aren't we?"

Taishou nods. "Have you been having any nightmares lately, Uzuki?"

"A few," I sigh. "They're unpleasant but pretty straight forward. I die in every single one."

"How do you die?" Taishou asks, still looking at the ceiling.

"I don't really know, it's not very clear in the dream," I mutter. "I just see one person, and after that, I feel like I get hit by something really heavy. And then someone tells me that I died. And then I wake up after that."

". . . Who did you see in the dream?"

". . . I don't know. The person is basically just one giant shadow; I can't see his face or his body, or even his aura."

"Evil presences like this can affect those sensitive to it," Taishou mutters. "You have to be careful, Uzuki. If anything weird happens, let me know right away."

I nod. "Alright, Taishou."

He tilts his head at me and raises his eyebrow. "Are you sure you haven't noticed anything changing in the air? Nothing at all?"

"Well, I feel evil presences at school, but that's mostly just from the idiots that are sure to become criminals after they graduate."

". . . Alright, but be careful, and don't trust too many people. Anyone could be the person causing this mess in the air, even a high school student."

I stand up from the couch. "I'm going to make some coffee. Do you want any?"

He looks at me, and then nods. "Sure. But please, hold the sugar. I don't need to have heart attacks from the amount of sugar you put in things."

I shrug my shoulders as I turn around and head for the kitchen. "You have no taste." When I'm in the kitchen, I open a cupboard and pull out the ground coffee beans from the top shelf. I pour some of the coffee mixture into two cups, and then I grab the kettle from on top of the stove and pour the already prepared hot water into the cups. I add a teaspoon of sugar to Taishou's coffee, and four teaspoons to mine. Then I add some milk to both, and take the coffee out to Taishou. I stare out the large window, watching the people go by, as I drink my coffee slowly. I count the people I know who pass by our window, some who wave at me, some who pass without a second glance.

One. Saichi. Passes by the window and waves at me with a smile.

Two. Shyoto. Runs by the window so quickly he doesn't even have time to notice me.

Three. Luma. Walks her kitten, Wobby, down the street, and waves at me.

Four. Len. Passes by the window with Luma.

Five. Sushi. Runs extremely fast past the window.

Six. Sashimi. Chases after Sushi.

. . . Seven.

Mitsuhiro.

Stares at me from across the window, at the local cafe, where he's sitting alone at a table, and drags his index finger across his throat with an evil grin.


End file.
